Apparatus for imparting gloss to soap

ABSTRACT

A method and apparatus for improving the gloss on extruded bar soap from a plodder by using blades to cut away an unfinished surface to form a glossy face.

T. F. MACH Jan. 8, 1974 APPARATUS FOR IMPAR'IING GLOSS TO SOAP FiledMarch 8, 1971 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 FIG! v NV zm'on. 7770/2719 A Mam ATTY.

Jan. 8,- 1974 T. F. MACH 3,784,533

APPARATUS FOR IMPARTING GLOSS TO SOAP Filed March 8, 1971 2 Sheets-Sheet2 FIG-.5 FIGS IM-a ABa

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1 NVEMTOQ 77/0/7746 F Mac/z United States Patent US. Cl. 264-146 8Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A method and apparatus for improvingthe gloss on ex truded bar soap from a plodder by using blades to cutaway an unfinished surface to form a glossy face.

This invention relates to methods and apparatus for forming soap, andmore specifically to means to impart gloss to soap.

Conventional methods of manufacturing cake soap employ an extrudersystem or plodder for extruding a continuous bar of soap through a dieproviding the desired cross-sectional shape of the finished cakes. Thisbar is then passed through a cutter where it is cut transversely of thedirection of flow into cakes. Soap cakes manufactured in this manner,however, do not have a surface gloss which is desired.

It has been known that surface gloss could be imparted to toilet soapand the like by extruding the soap through a constricted opening.However, this practice requires very close control of temperature andother conditions and as a practical matter does not provide the degreeof gloss desired. It is the purpose of the present invention to providea dependable means of producing a good gloss on soap.

The present invention relates to methods and apparatus for forming a barof polished soap by extruding a bar of soap while using one or moreblades to longitudinally cut the bar to form a glossy surface.

Turning now to the drawings:

FIG. '1 is the schematic view of a plodder provided with a soap glosser,portions thereof being shown by phantom lines.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary cross-sectional view of a nozzle ofthe plodder and glosser.

FIG. 3 is the downstream end of the glosser as shown in FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is the upstream end of the glosser, portions thereof in phantomlines.

FIG. 5 is a modification of the present invention.

FIG. 6 shows a second modification of the invention.

FIG. 7 shows a cross-sectional view of a third modification.

One embodiment of my invention is shown in FIGS. 1 to 4 wherein plodder10 includes a hopper 11 with an outlet 12 leading to a screw conveyor 13enclosed in a tubular housing 14. The screw 13 is rotated by an exteriordrive element of any suitable type such as a gear 15 from a power source(not shown). Abutting the conveyor outlet is a perforated plate 16, anddownstream of the perforated plate 16 is a nozzle 17.

A soap glosser 20 is fixed by a fastening ring 18 to the outlet end ofthe nozzle 17 by pins 19. The soap glosser includes a forming plate 21in which there is a rectangular opening 22, a blade frame 23 secured byscrews 24 to the downstream side of the forming plate, and knife blades25, 26a, and 26b embedded in slots 27 in the frame 23. The blades areretained in the slots by the periphery of the forming plate 21 whichoverlaps the ends of the blades 24 In the embodiment of FIGS. 1 to 4,the blade frame 23 is shaped as two parallel rectangular channels 28 and29 with a common wall 30. A knife blade is retained in the common wall30 and blades 26a and 26b are retained in each of the two outer walls31a and 32b within the edges of the opening in the forming plate leavinga space between the forming plate and the blade frame. Along the outsideof the blade frame 23 ramps 33a and 33b lead away from blades 26a and26b to ridges 34a and 3411.

My plodder with the attached glosser operates in the following manner.Plastic soap is delivered to the hopper 11 and is carried by the screw13 through the tubular housing 14 and is forced through the perforatedplate 16. This plate separates trapped air and forms the soap intohomogeneous elongated strands. The continuing operation of the screwforces the strands through the nozzle 17 where they are compressed andformed into a continuous soap bar by the forming plate 21. The extrudedsoap bar is then forced into the knife blades 25, 26a and 26b of thesoap glosser 20.

In the present embodiment, the outer blades 26a and 26b shave twoopposed peripheral surfaces of the bar as it emerges from the formingplate. The depth at which these blades shave is determined by thedistances 32a and 32b that the outer blades are within the edges of theforming plate. Ideally the blades should shave at the minimum depthneeded to remove the irregularities left by the forming plate in thesoap surface. The shavings removed by these blades slides along theoutside of the blade frame 23 and up ramps 33a and 33b and are deflectedoff the glosser by the ridges 34a and 34b. A bin (not shown) can beplaced to catch the scrap soap for recycling to the plodder.

While the outer blades 26a. and 26b shave the surfaces of the bar, thecenter blade 25 divides the bar along its longitudinal axis. This formstwo half sized bars which emerge from the rectangular channels 28 and29. Each of these bars will have two glossy surfaces formed by theblades of the present invention.

It is believed that the gloss imparted by the present invention is dueto an undamaged crystalline structure which is exposed when the soap iscut. In using this method, the surface speed of the soap as it passesthe blades is a factor in determining the degree of gloss imparted. Ifthe surface speed is too great, the crystalline structure will be tornor smeared and the surface formed will not exhibit the degree of glossdesired.

The output of the plodder is usually measured by the number of cakes ofsoap which can be produced per minute. In manufacturing 3.5 oz. soapcakes which are about 3%, inches in length, a conventional plodder mightbe capable of producing a maximum of 300 cakes per minute, but inpractice run at a rate of per minute to suite production needs. Even atthis speed, however, the surfaces formed might lack the degree of glossdesired. By providing a forming plate which makes an enlarged bar anddividing the bar longitudinally into two or more bars of the desiredcross section, a slower surface speed can be maintained without reducingefiiciency. If the bar is divided by a knife blade, the two interfacesformed will also have the desired gloss. In the present embodiment, twobars of equal shape are provided for by the insertion of a blade in theglosser which divides the extruded bar through the center.

Several modifications of the present invention might be considered.Whereas the present embodiment produces two bars of soap, each onehaving two polished faces, FIG. 5 shows the addition of two more blades35a and 35b at right angles with the existing blades 36, 37a and 37b toproduce gloss on all four faces of the soap bars. Another modificationis shown in FIG. 6 in which the blades 38a, 38b, 39a and 39b are spacedsuch that bars emerging from passages 40 and 41 will equal to each otherbut smaller than the bar which emerges from passage 42. In this mannerbars of several sizes or shapes can be produced if cakes of more thanone configuration are desired. A third modification is to change theangle of the outer knife blades as illustrated by 43a and 43b in FIG. 7.This configuration would permit the addition of adjustment screws 44aand 44b to extend or retract these blades and thereby vary the depth atwhich they shave.

In addition to dependably producing gloss, there is another independentbenefit in using the present invention. Frequently the last step in theproduction of cake soap is to stamp a design in the surface of the cake.I have found that surfaces produced by the glosser are excellent forreceiving such stamps as is evidenced by a marked reduction of cakesrejected after stamping due to pits and ridges.

While several embodiments of the invention have been illustrated anddescribed in detail, it should be understood that other modifications,substitutions and additions may be made without departing from the scopeof the invention which is defined by the appended claims.

I claim:

1. Apparatus for forming a bar of soap comprising a nozzle through whichsoap may be extruded, said nozzle having at an end thereof an openingthrough which the soap passes from the nozzle as it is extruded, and aglossing device downstream of said opening, a knife on said devicehaving its blade substantially parallel with the axis of said openingand disposed inwardly of an edge of said opening whereby said knife andsaid opening edge cooperate to form an extruded surface layer and toseparate said layer from said extruded bar.

2. Apparatus as set forth in claim 1 wherein said end of said nozzle isprovided by a plate having said opening therein, which opening isfrustoconical in form with the smaller diameter thereof being on theside of said blade which faces said glossing device.

3. Apparatus as set forth in claim 1 wherein said glossing deviceincludes a pair of said knives in spaced relationship each having itsedge parallel with and disposed inwardly of an edge of said opening,each of said knives cooperating with an edge of said opening to form asurface layer of said extruded bar and to separate said layer from saidbar.

4. Apparatus as set forth in claim 3 wherein said glossing deviceincludes means disposed between said knives and downstream of saidopening for separating said bar into two parts, said means including aknife and having inclined sides for imparting a gloss to said parts asthey pass therealong.

5. Apparatus as set forth in claim 1 wherein said nozzle includes aplate at said end thereof, said plate including said opening therein,and in which said glossing device is secured to said nozzle.

6. In a method for forming a bar of soap the steps of extruding soapthrough an opening and then shaving a surface layer from said extrudedbar by passing said bar by a knife blade disposed substantially parallelto the axis of said opening and the edge of which is downstream of saidopening inward of an edge of said opening, and between said edge of saidopening and the axis of said opening whereby said surface layer betweensaid knife and said edge is shaved and separated from said bar.

7. In a method for forming a bar of soap the steps of extruding soapthrough an opening and shaving surface layers from each of the opposingsides of said bar by passing said extruded bar between knives, theblades of said knives being substantially parallel to the axis of saidopening and the edges of which are downstream of said opening inward ofopposite edges of said opening and between said edges of said openingand the axis of said opening whereby surface layers on opposing sides ofsaid bar are shaved and separated from said bar.

8. A method as set forth in claim 7 which includes passing said bar pastthe edge of a knife centrally located with respect to said openingwhereby said bar is severed into two parts, and passing said parts alonginclined side surfaces of said knife to form a gloss on each of saidparts.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,089,197 5/1963 Chaifer et al.25-8 3,485,905 12/1969 Compa et al 264- 2,748,070 5/1956 Head 2582,642,620 6/1953 Vogt 264-457 287,699 10/1883 Meeker 264-146 2,373,5934/1945 Pease 264-157 1,783,287 12/1930 Hilgendorf 2517 2,413,995 1/ 1947Pease 25106 3,026,594 3/ 1962 Gajda et al 264-148 ROBERT F. WHITE,Primary Examiner J. R. THURLOW, Assistant Examiner US. Cl. X.R.

